Bestie Twin Nails

The One With Round 31 of Bestie Twin Nails With FashionFooting

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!  Happy New Years Eve!  Can you believe that today is the 31st and tomorrow is the beginning of 2017?  It's still weird to me to think that this year is over.  Part of me wonders where the time went, and the other part of me is thinking it's time for the New Year.

Today I'm posting alongside Fashion Footing for Round 31 of Bestie Twin Nails.  Another thing I cannot believe, that we've been doing this feature for close to 3 years.  I swear we just started this last year.

Obviously since it is New Years Eve, we decided to do a NYE manicure.  We went with a simple dotticure using the classic New Years colors; black, gold, and silver.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - Building My Empire
  • Serendipity Polish - Midnight Kisses
  • Serendipity Polish - Glitzy Gold Champagne
  • Zoya - Tomoko
Love how this turned out.  I was a bit unsure that I wanted to accent this manicure with Zoya Tomoko, but I'm glad I did.  It added a little more glitz to the manicure.  And it matched Glitzy Gold Champagne by Serendipity Polish super well!



Building My Empire is one of my new favorite black polishes.  One coat, you read that right, one coat for this beauty.  Like my other Serendipity's, this polish dries super fast.  Midnight Kisses and Glitzy Gold Champagne worked well for the dots.  I was a bit iffy that I would get Glitzy Gold Champagne to show up on the black because it's a bit more sheer than Midnight Kisses, but as you can tell there was no problem at all.  Absolutely love them.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Ready for 2017??

Don't forget to check out Amanda's manicure.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year!!!

Until next time, <3.

Year in Review - Favorite Manicures of 2016

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Can you believe that in a few days 2017 will be here?  Where did the year go?  Since it is the end of the year, it's only fitting that I have a Year in Review post.


This year I decided to go through my lovely little blog and pick out my favorite manicure from each month and share them again here with you.  While picking out my manicures for today's posts, I stumbled across so many that I didn't even remember I created.

Head on into the post to see what my favorites were!!!

Christmas

The One With the Poinsettia Nail Art

9:00:00 AM


Merry Christmas polished world!  Cannot believe that it is actually Christmas Day!  I'm kind of upset with myself that I didn't get more Christmas designs up on the blog.  I think it's because I had a late start this year. Oh well, there's always next year!

Today I am bringing you an all new Christmas design that I have never done before!  For years I have seen other bloggers paint poinsettia's on their nails.  After seeing janet_m1's manicure on Instagram, I finally had the confidence to try the look on my own nails!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Sunset Blvd
  • ORLY - Invite Only
  • Serendipity Polish - Glitzy Gold Champagne
  • Salon Perfect - Glam Glitter

I think this is my all time favorite Christmas manicure!  All the polishes work wonderfully together.  Serendipity Polish Glitzy Gold Champagne is a gorgeous light gold metallic polish with gold sparkles in it.  Two coats and perfect coverage.  Was not shocked because it is a Serendipity Polish.  Dried super fast so I was able to add the art and the glitter gradient.

I did the glitter gradient using Salon Perfect Glam Glitter.  This is the perfect Christmas glitter wiht gold and green microglitter and large red hexed glitter.  I thought I was going to have a trouble doing the gradient because of the density of the red glitter, but it actually worked really well.


Now to talk about the gorgeous ORLY polishes.  I purchased the whole ORLY Sunset Strip Holiday 2016 collection because I've been really missing my ORLY limited edition collections.  I won't have that problem next year though since I signed up for the ORLY Color Pass.

Anyways, Sunset Blvd is a gorgeous red shimmer polish which had complete coverage in two coats.  I used three because I wanted the red shimmer to really stand out.  Invite Only is a gorgeous green crelly which is perfect for Christmas.  I applied the second coat before the first was completely dried, so there was a little bit of bubbling, so I added a top coat of INM Northern Lights, which honestly was a great decision.  Look how gorgeous the holo sparkle is on top of that green!

What do you think?  Like the poinsettia?  Like the combination?

Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate!!!!

Until next time, <3.

Christmas

The One With the Christmas Dots

9:00:00 AM


Morning polished world! How are you all doing today??  Christmas is Sunday - are you ready?  I posted my nail art wheel on Instagram for those of you who need some last minute ideas!  Now this means I need to start figuring out a few ideas for New Years Eve.  I can't believe 2016 is almost over.

Today's Christmas manicure is just a simple dotticure.  In the Fall, I purchased the Call Me Boss Lady collection by Serendipity Polish.  Even though it was a fall collection, two of the colors were perfect for the Christmas season.  Then when I purchased the RSVP For NYE Collection, I knew I had to combine the polishes for this dotticure.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - Midnight Kisses
  • Serendipity Polish - Cash Flow Queen
  • Serendipity Polish - Less Whine, More Wine
Love the combo.  Just like my other dotticure manicures, I start off with a base coat of clear polish, and then take the darkest color and add the dots.  For this manicure, I started with Cash Flow Queen.  Once those dots were dry, I added dots of Less Whine, More Wine.  Then finally added Midnight Kisses.



I am in love with the new Serendipity Polish collection.  The metallics all are awesome for nail art.  I was a little iffy that they would because other metallic polishes I own just refuse to dot or gradient, but as you can see, this clearly made opaque, perfect dots.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Love Serendipity Polish as much as I do?

Until next time, <3.

Christmas

The One With the Christmas Garland

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Can you believe that Christmas is Sunday?  Hopefully your nails are festive for the holiday.  If you need some ideas, then you should take a look at my Christmas Nail Art Wheel I created a few years ago.  I really should make a new one of these for next year.

Today's design is something I have never done before on the blog....a french tip design.  I don't like french tips on my nails because I don't think they look good on my nail shape.  After seeing a garland french tip design by Nails by Cambria, I thought I would give it a try since it wasn't your typical french manicure.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Sheer Force
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • Acrylics
Okay, I really do love how these turned out.  They kind of looked like stickers or nail decals.  They were super easy to do also.  First, I started off with one coat of Sally Hansen Sheer Force.  When that was dry, I used ORLY White Tips to add the french tip design.  I didn't tape them off or make them even because I knew that I was going to be painting the garland over the edge.

When the bases were dry, I then took green acrylics and painted the garland across the nails.  When that was dry, I used a red acrylic for the little berries, then finished them off with the white detail.  Added a top coat, and called it a day.


Sheer Force is a great subtle nude polish.  It's more nude than OPI Bubble Bath but has the same effect.  I wasn't going to use this polish at all, but I was scared that the green acrylic would have stained my naked nail.


ORLY White Tips is my favorite white polish.  It's perfect for french tips because it's so opaque that it covers in one coat.  One swipe across the tip of the nail and I had a perfect french tip.  Since this bottle has the normal ORLY brush, I use it for my white base coats a lot because of the fact it covers in one coat.

What do you think of this garland manicure?  Something you would try?  Think French tips look weird on me?

Unfortunately I baked a whole lot of Christmas cookies, so these pretties only lasted about a day on me because I was washing dishes and such.  Kind of sad, but that might mean that I'll have some time to fit in a few more Christmas manicures before Sunday!!

Until next time, <3.

Christmas

The One With the Christmas Lights

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Sunday!  I'm excited for today, if the weather doesn't go crazy, I'm going to my friends house to make cut out cookies, and then attempt to ice them with royal icing.  You know, make adorable cookies like they have on Pinterest and Instagram.  I'll document our journey on Instagram for everyone!

Today I'm bringing you yet another Christmas design.  Every year I paint Christmas lights on my nails.  Last year I purchased a few polishes from the NineZero Lacquer holiday collection, including Twinkle Lights.  So, this year I'm re-creating last years Christmas light manicure on top of Twinkle Lights.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Nine Zero Lacquer - Twinkle Lights
  • Acrylics
Twinkle Lights is a silver holographic polish with semi transparent rainbow glitter.  A perfect polish to resemble twinkly Christmas lights.  Two coats and I had full coverage.  The rainbow glitter disperses evenly on the nail.  No need for dabbing or glitter placement.  It's a true beauty.



I love the holographic glittery base for this nail art.  I debated on making my lights "twinkle" by adding some colored glitter on top, but I'm happy that I didn't.  I think the cream art on top of the glitter makes the art really stand out.

What do you think? Fan of this design? Do you own this NineZero??  If not, you should probably go buy it.  Perfect for Christmas and year round!

Until next time, <3.

Christmas

The One With the Christmas Holly

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It is beyond freezing outside.  I cannot get over how cold it has gotten.  Nor can I get over the fact that it's December 15th.  Ten more days until Christmas.  I really do not know where the time has gone this year.

As promised, I am going to start bringing you Christmas manicures.  I came up with today's holly manicure.  I have done a few holly designs in the past, but I've never really liked them.  This one I liked better than the previous, but still not 100% my favorite.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Alicia
  • Zoya - Merida
  • Zoya - Blaze
I purposely got these Zoya polishes for Christmas manicures.  Right before Halloween, Zoya had an awesome promo.  If you made a $22 purchase, you would receive Alicia, Merida, and Finley free.  Of course I purchased three polishes so it basically was a BOGO deal.  How could you pass up a deal with those gorgeous scattered holos?

Alicia is a gorgeous silver scattered holo, which I have used a couple of times already.  I can see myself purchasing numerous back up bottles of this beauty because it's a perfect polish for an accent nail.  Two coats and full coverage.



Merida....oh Merida you are one gorgeous polish.  I really wanted to take off my nail art and paint this beauty on all 10 of my nails.  Two coats and full coverage.  A perfect green.  Look at that holo!!!!


Blaze is one of the original scattered holos.  I never owned it so I purchased it as part of my BOGO deal.  When the bottle came in the mail, it looked more pink than the swatches I had seen by other bloggers.  After applying one coat, I quickly saw that it was a gorgeous red shade.  I think together with all that holo in the bottle, it makes it look pink.  But on the nail it is clearly red.

What do you think?  Fan of these polishes?  Fan of this design??

I cannot wait to use these polishes for more Christmas manicures.  They're just so perfect!!  I am beyond happy that I bought them.

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One With the Snowflakes and Zoya Normani

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Tuesday is here, winter is here, and Christmas is right around the corner.  My next post I swear is going to be Christmas themed!  Until then, I'm sharing with you another snowflake manicure.

After seeing this manicure on Pinterest, I wanted to re-create it.  I loved the color combination and the little snowflake accent.  Since I don't have the vinyls that the girl used in that photo, I free-handed my snowflakes and did them a tad differently.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Normani
  • China Glaze - Bring on the Bubbly
  • FingerPaints - Sea Temptress
  • INM - Northern Lights
Now, I have owned FingerPaints Sea Temptress for I don't know how long.  I have purged the other three from the collection, but kept this one for some odd reason.  These polishes are oddly textured with hex glitters to create the texture.  I never knew when I would use this polish, but when I purged the others I decided to keep it thinking that someday I would find a use for it.  And today was that day.  I use done coat over a white polish and it looked like snow!  It applied evenly with a very nice pearl-y white finish.  The bumps made it look snow-like.



You can see the texture and pearl look better in this photo.  I think it was a great accent for this design.  Zoya Normani is also a great base color.  Two coats and full coverage.  Beautiful on it's own, but even more gorgeous when you add a top coat of INM Northern Lights! 

What do you think?  Fan of this design?  Something you would try??

Until next time, <3.

Bestie Twin Nails

Snowman Bestie Twin Nails with 25 Sweetpeas

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's finally Saturday, but unfortunately my weekend is super busy so basically today is my only day to relax and enjoy the day.  Oh well, maybe once the holidays are over I can go back to resting more.  That reminds me, I need to start my Christmas manicures!  It's the 10th and I haven't done a single one.

Today I'm posting alongside 25 SweetPeas for a Bestie Twin Nails feature!  A few weeks ago, Sarah and I saw this adorable snowman manicure by Ruth's Nail Art and both wanted to re-create it.  Since we both wanted to, we figured why not have a Bestie Twin Nail post!


Let's take a look!!!  Hiding the photos under the cut because there's a lot of them!

Jessica Cosmetics

The One With the First Snowflake Manicure of Winter

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today??  Guess what?  It snowed here!  Sure, it snowed a few weeks ago, but now it snowed on top of the Christmas lights on the bushes, so to me that's the first official snow.  Plus all the leaves are cleaned up so it's actually pretty outside.

So since it's the first official snowfall in my book, I have decided it is time to start winter/snowflake manicures.  Today's manicure is a re-creation of this manicure I did last year.  It was one of my favorites, partially due to that gorgeous blue Madam Glam polish.  This year though I decided to use some of the new OPI polishes from the Breakfast at Tiffany's collection!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Jessica Cosmetics - Black Lustre
  • OPI - I Believe in Manicures
  • OPI - Champagne for Breakfast
Can we take a minute and talk about Champagne for Breakfast by OPI?  I bought it because I thought it was a plain silver holo microglitter.  Sure, I have dozens of those, but I have to have them all.  I am SOOOOO happy I bought this one because it is a textured polish!!!  That's right, it might as well be a OPI Liquid Sand.  If you love texture and you love holo, you need to go find this polish.  I need to find myself a back up, or three.



I Believe in Manicures is a gorgeous blue polish.  I almost didn't buy it because I have zillions of blue polishes, but this one is a different shade than others I have.  Two coats of that perfect OPI formula and I had full coverage.  Super shiny, super pretty.  I need about three back ups of this beauty as well.


Well I think my snowflake drawing technique has most certainly improved in a year.  I cannot wait to do more.  Seriously, I'm on a snowflake kick, so be expected to see at them throughout the winter season!

What do you think?  Own any of these polishes?  Is it too early for snowflake manicures??

 Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

The One With the Manicure That Was Impossible to Photograph

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world! Happy Monday to you all!!!  Here we are, another full work week is ahead of us.  I do have to say though, this weekend did not go by that fast.  Kind of felt like my Sunday dragged.  Weird how some days do that and others don't.

Today's manicure was impossible to photograph but was so pretty.  It is a re-creation of this manicure by Polish and Beyond.  I fell in love with the design when it came across my Instagram feed and immediately pinned it to Pinterest so I didn't forget to do it!

Now, it was impossible to photograph.  I'm not too pleased with the photographs, but they'll have to do!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Boho Blues
  • OPI - Love Angel Music Baby
  • White Acrylic
So I think it was impossible to photograph because of the pale blue base, the white, and gold.  I think that if I used black accenting instead of white it would have shown up.  Regardless, it was really pretty in person.  I need to learn how to photograph these lighter manicures.



China Glaze Boho Blues is a gorgeous blue from the 2015 Road Trip collection.  Two coats and I had full coverage.  Some nails almost could have used three coats, but since I was covering most of the nail with the swipe of gold, I didn't really bother with it.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Any suggestions on how to photograph manicures like this?

Until next time, <3.

Dry Brush Mani

The One With the Dry Brush Mani and INM Polishes

9:00:00 AM


Good Morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Friday?  Can you believe it's already Friday?  This week just flew right on by.  I have to go to the mall this weekend and start some Christmas shopping.  I highly doubt that will happen though because a million other things always pop up.  Oh well.

Today I'm sharing with you a dry brush manicure I did using some of the INM polishes that were sent to me awhile ago.  I saw a similar looking dry brush design over at Young, Wild, and Polished and that gave me the inspiration to do this manicure! 

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • INM OTD Lacquer - Cotton Candy Dandy
  • INM OTD Lacquer - Rue de Fleurus
  • FingerPaints - Be Merry and Sparkle

FingerPaints Be Merry and Sparkle is the glitter I have on my ring finger.  I forgot I even owned this beauty!  This polish was part of the holiday collection last year.  It's a multi hex glitter with blue, light gold, and silver.  Beyond gorgeous on the nail and applies perfectly.


Cotton Candy Dandy is a GORGEOUS blue polish.  One of my new favorites in my collection.  Two coats and full coverage.  One coat was a bit sheer.  I love how it matches the FingerPaints glitter.  It really makes the blue accent pop.


Rue de Fleurus is two coats as well.  Love this purple shade.  My collection was lacking a purple in this shade so I'm happy to welcome it.  I think it was a perfect color to use along side the blue!

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would try?

I hate to say it but I'm now addicted to dry brush.  I have a few manicures now to show you using the technique!!!

Until next time, <3.

Monthly Mani Favs

The One With the November Monthly Mani Favs

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today?  It's the end of the month, therefore it's time for me to share my Monthly Mani Favs!  I skipped out last month because I was really tired of Halloween manicures and wasn't in the mood to share them again.

Can you believe though that it is the end of November?  I feel like it just started.  I am not going to lie though, I am excited for December and to start some Christmas nail art.  There are so many cute ideas out there that I'm dying to try and make my own!

Until then though, let's take a look at November's favs.



  • The One With the Abstract Looking Flowers - Loving this cute manicure using some of my favorite ORLY polishes.  The manicure was inspired by Nicole over at Young, Wild, and Polished.  I'm sad that Sally Beauty doesn't stock ORLY's limited edition collections anymore.  Thank God for HB Beauty Bar!
  • The One With Round 30 of Bestie Twin Nails With Fashion Footing - I feel like every monthly mani fav features my BTN with Amanda.  I absolutely loved this Fall floral manicure using Morgan Taylor Looking for a Wingman.  I love how the colors blended together and were perfectly accented with ORLY Bling.
  • The One With the Splash Flower and Jessica Cosmetics - Mysterious Echoes by Jessica Cosmetics has quickly become one of my favorite Fall colors.  This polish is from the Into the Wild collection.  I just love how it looks sponged onto the white.
  • The One With the Blue Smoosh Manicure - Love, love, love this manicure.  This blue is one of my all time favorite colors!!  The smoosh is one of my new favorite techniques also.  Just look how neat it is!
What's your favorite?  Did you like some of my other manicures instead?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Splash Flower and Jessica Cosmetics

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!  Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is over and that Christmas is right around the corner.  That means I need to start my Christmas and Winter manicures.

Until then, I still have a few more fall-ish designs to share with you all.  Today's design is loosely inspired by this manicure by just.mynails on Instagram.  While I liked her design, I wanted to switch it up a little bit and make it my own.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Jessica Cosmetics - Mysterious Echoes
  • Serendipity Polish - Sunshine Rainbow
  • ORLY - White Tips
I love the final design of my manicure.  The splash flower is something I always credit Casual Contrast for coming up with.  Even when I see other bloggers do the design, I automatically think of Emily.  So, even though I re-created a design by just.mynails, I never would have known to do a splash flower ever if it weren't for Emily.  I love the design.  It's simple, quick, and super eye catching.



Mysterious Echoes is a beauty from the Into the Wild Collection.  I used it in a manicure a week or so ago, and loved it so much that I had to use it again.  I love how it looks sponged on the white, and next to the gold.

What do you think?  Fan of the look?  Have you ever created a splash flower design?

Until next time, <3.